His defense attempted to sway the jury in their favor during closing arguments by comparing R. Kelly to the likes of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mike Pence, but the conclusion of the singer's sex trafficking trial did not end as they'd hoped. On Monday (September 27), Kelly began his week by learning that he was found guilty of over a dozen counts relating to sex crimes, bribery, trafficking, and soon, he will learn his fate at sentencing.
After learning of the verdict, Kelly's attorney Deveraux Cannick came forward and spoke with reporters outside of the courthouse. “Of course Mr. Kelly is disappointed,” he said.
“He was not anticipating this verdict because based on the evidence, why should he anticipate this verdict?" Cannick continued. "You saw witness after witness giving three, four, five different versions as to what they said happened here.”
“You didn’t get to see what we saw in terms of the discovery. You didn’t get to see all the inconsistencies,” he said. “We said in our summation that the government cherry-picked their version that they thought would support the continuation of the narrative.”
“Why would he expect this verdict given all the inconsistencies that we saw?” Kelly reportedly faces 10 years to life. His fans held a protest outside of the courthouse and others have taken to social media to express their discontent with the verdict. Kelly shared a post to social media maintaining his innocence and stating that he will continue to "fight for my freedom."
R. Kelly supporters protest outside the courthouse, September 27 - Spencer Platt/Getty Images
R. Kelly supporters protest outside the courthouse, September 27 - Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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